Nail or staple



7 To all whomit may concern.-

UNrrnn STATES PATENT OFFICE;

JOHN E. LEATHERS, OF PETERBOROUGH, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

' NAIL R.

STAPLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 498,664, dated May 30,1893.

Application filed November 25, 1892. Serial No. 453,060. (No model.)

' Be it known that I, JOHN E. LEATHERS,a citizen of the United States,residing at Peterborough, in the county ofllillsborough and State of NewHampshire, have invented a new and useful Nail or Staple, of which thefola lowing is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in driven fasteners, such asnails,-staples, &c.;,

and it has for its object to provide certain Improvements in shanked orpronged fasteners, such as nails, spikes, staples,'tacks and the like,which shallrenderthe same more eflctive in the uses to be adapted.

To this end the invention primarily contemplates a nail, spike, 850.,having improved which the same may means for driving, drawing andsecuring the.

' j same in the object, in connection'with which staple.

the same may be used. I

With these and other objects in View which will readily appear as thenature-of the in vention is better understood the same consists in thenovel construction, combinationand arrangement of parts, hereinaftermore fully illustrated, described and claimed. In the accompanyingdrawings:Figure l is a front view of a nail constructed in ac- Fig. 2 isan edge or side view of the same. Fig. 3' is a front elevation of astaple provided with the improvements contemplated by this invention.Fig. 4 is an edge or side vie'wof the Referring to the accompanyingdrawings:' A represents a shank of a nail which is tapered toward itspointed end toform the usual'opposite flattened faces a, and the shan kA terminates at its upper end in the heads B and C, respectively,the'latter of which serves 7 in the capacity of an auxiliary head forthe purpose of driving and withdrawing the nail when used for fasteningtemporarily or permanently. The head G, is of approximately the samediameter as the rounded head B,

' and meets the latter head at its base in aneck D, which readilyreceives the claw of a. hammer or device for withdrawing the nail. Nowit will be readily seen that the nail can be driven into any object upto the inner head B, as usual, to secure the meet the entire or wedgeshaped projectionsE. I angular or wedge shaped p rojectionsE,--projectout from the opposite faces of thenail is exposed, so that the nail canbe withdrawn when so desired, and it will alsobe apparent that for permanent work thenail can bedriven entirely homeso that the upper auxiliaryhead C, can alsobe put into the. object flush with vided upon each ofthe opposite flattened shank A, While at the same time the head 0,

faces a, thereof, with the opposite triangular and serve as wedges tosecure the same in p0 The said tri sition in the object into whichthe'same may be driven.

and have their apices G, extend centrally up The. projections .E, have"their .bases F, terminate flush with thepoint of-the shank- A, and of awidth equaling the point,

the faces on the shank toward'the'heads, so I as to form combinedstopand cutting edges.

The projections E, form wedges around which thewood settles as the nailis driven into po-' sition, so thatv there is no dangerwhatever of thenail flying out when used in'hard woods or frost bitten wood, and .alsoprevents the Y the apicesG, form stops which tendto prevent thewithdrawal of the nail, the same also serve as cutting edges, so thatthe wedges can being withdrawn.

seen that the same would be. particularly adapted for splittingpnrposes,1inasmuch as thenail will not fly out'of position while be ingdriven. V

' nail from becoming loose in the wood. While As illustrated in Figs. 3and 4, the constructions herein described are applied, to a staple H.The staple H, is provided withthe usual parallel prongs or shanks I,upon the opposite flat faces of which are the triangular or wedge shapedprojections E, similar in detail to the projections E, and serving theself-same function, while the staple is also provided with the head 0,at the, base of which is, formed the neckD', so that the staple shallhave the same adaptation for driving andwithdrawing as the naildescribed, and may be used for various purposes, 'Itwill of course beunderstood that the nail and stapleconstructions are adapted to alldriven fasteners such as spikes, tacks, and the like.

From the foregoing description it is thought that the construction,operation and many advantages of the herein described improvement willbe apparent.

Having thus described my invention, what.

- I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a driven fastener for wood, the driving shank having oppositeflattened faces leading to its point and opposite triangular wedgeshapedprojections projecting out from said opposite flattened faces and havingtheir bases the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN E. LEATHERS.

- Witnesses:

JAMES F. BRENNAN, JOH M. RAMSEY.

